File this one under "Like I needed another hobby/interest" ...

[doneat54]

Maybe 10-15 years or so ago I spotted a couple "albums" of 78 rpm records while perusing antique stores in Vermont. I asked the proprietor what he wanted for them (I worked my was through college in the 80s as a nightclub DJ) and I forget what he said, but they were in the single digits. I grabbed them, then was confronted by DW, "and WHAT, exactly, are you going do with those"

Of course I had no answer.

But bought them anyway.


Fast forward to a few weeks ago, and perusing Facebook Marketplace, I see a crank handle Victor Victrola for sale for maybe $75. I inquire, and get a response that it has sold already. But now it was in my head.

Week or so later, I find another one for sale nearby, missing handle, "was my grandfathers, I think it works". Pick it up for a C-note. Find a handle on eBay for $15. I Google the model number, and of course there is an enthusiasts page FULL of info. Run the SN, it was made in 1916.

Only tonight, cleared off some workbench space in the shop and opened it up. Whoever last serviced it operated from the "more grease is better" philosophy. Vacuumed out some cobwebs, ran into the basement and grabbed those binders of old 78s.... and.....

Wow, take me back in time.. WAY back. One binder if full of vaudeville/comedy recordings.

 

[RobbieB]

Cool beans baby!

Retirement is made for hobbies. Those people who miss working...

Don't have enough hobbies -

 

[ERD50]

Cool!

Here's a review of a "modern" gramophone, and he comments they sound better than most people think if they have a good record and needle. The movies play scratchy, tinny ones because that's what people expect from an old gramophone.

Vocals on this are impressively clear, but this would have been an electric recording.

I took the old 78's from MIL/FIL when they moved from their house. Got a cartridge for them for my turntable, digitized them at 45 RPM and used the Audacity sound edit program to correct the speed and equalization (need to do it in the right order!).

Didn't find anything of great value, as far as I could figure, but Goodwill took them. I guess there are collectors out there, at the right (cheap) price.

Have fun!

-ERD50

 

[upupandaway]

I was letting a guy use my trailer last year to move some things and he gave me this Edison Diamond Disc player complete with a dozen records down below. I had to buy a reproducer on ebay and I will have to fabricate a new front grill but other then that its complete and pretty cool. I still need to go through the mechanical portion but right when I popped in the reproducer I got it to play. Good luck with the new hobby.

 

[Finance Dave]

Wow that is awesome! My dad worked for AT&T for 35 years and when he died, he left me with an old "bakelite" phone on a wood wall mount (I think 1930s). I'm not sure what to do with it yet....too busy having fun with other things. If anyone knows anything about old phones, PM me or something.

 

[ERD50]

Wow that is awesome! My dad worked for AT&T for 35 years and when he died, he left me with an old "bakelite" phone on a wood wall mount (I think 1930s). I'm not sure what to do with it yet....too busy having fun with other things. If anyone knows anything about old phones, PM me or something.

You can find plenty of info with a search. Maybe start a thread if you want to dig deeper.

IIRC, moderator Gumby has a few old phones, I think in working order.

The great thing is, these will work on the present (dying out) Plain Old Telephone System (POTS as those in the telephony industry refer to it) - the old copper wire, -48 V Tip-Ring, ~10ma (IIRC) current loop.

Buy a VOIP adapter, that has an Ethernet port and a POTS telephone jack. That jack will "look like" a standard telephone wall jack to any old style phone. So you can use a 100 YO phone to make calls over the internet, no problem.

The really old phones have their own battery, that might take some adaptation, but I doubt a '30s phone is like that.

Get it working, amaze your friends and family!

-ERD50

 

[Midpack]

We’re all entitled to our own preferences for hobbies & activities, whatever you enjoy. Especially in retirement. If it doesn’t hurt anyone else and you can afford it, why not? DW share some hobbies/activities but we both have some we don’t share - that’s a good thing IME.

 

[Finance Dave]

You can find plenty of info with a search. Maybe start a thread if you want to dig deeper.

IIRC, moderator Gumby has a few old phones, I think in working order.

The great thing is, these will work on the present (dying out) Plain Old Telephone System (POTS as those in the telephony industry refer to it) - the old copper wire, -48 V Tip-Ring, ~10ma (IIRC) current loop.

Buy a VOIP adapter, that has an Ethernet port and a POTS telephone jack. That jack will "look like" a standard telephone wall jack to any old style phone. So you can use a 100 YO phone to make calls over the internet, no problem.

The really old phones have their own battery, that might take some adaptation, but I doubt a '30s phone is like that.

Get it working, amaze your friends and family!

-ERD50

Something to think about! We don't have a landline currently, just cell phones. Here are photos.

 

[ERD50]

Something to think about! We don't have a landline currently, just cell phones. Here are photos.

View attachment 37991

View attachment 37992

I like it, I don't recall seeing one like that, only the wood ones with Bakelite receiver and mouthpiece. I think it would be a kick to have it functional.

Here's a few links on getting on VOIP to call other phones (I forgot about rotary to dial-tone conversion):

https://nbailey.ca/post/rotary-phone-voip/
https://www.oldphoneworks.com/pulse-to-tone-converters/

-ERD50

 

[Finance Dave]

Thanks ERD, I'll have to print those or file the links for future reference. I'm quite busy with woodworking and cars for the foreseeable future!

 

[ncbill]

Good luck with those 78RPM records...all the ones our family had of my grandfather singing shattered over the years...too bad no one thought to dub them to, say, 4-track back in the 1960s.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

My MIL owns more than 80,000 records. Mostly 78's, but others, too.

You want to buy her collection, OP?